Pneuma Psychotherapy
integrative therapy at acklam hall
Therapy that supports healing, growth, and living more authentically
Psychotherapy Services
Pneuma Psychotherapy provides counselling and psychotherapy for adults in Middlesbrough and online across the UK. I work with individuals, charities, and organisations, and also offer training therapy for trainee counsellors and psychotherapists. These are routine parts of my practice rather than separate or specialist services.
Services and issues I work with
Individual Counselling & Psychotherapy (Middlesbrough and Online)
I provide one-to-one counselling and psychotherapy for adults in Middlesbrough, working in person at Acklam Hall and online. Sessions are 50 minutes and usually take place weekly. Therapy may be time-limited, where there is a particular issue you wish to focus on, or longer-term, where there is a need for deeper exploration. The pace and duration of the work are guided by your circumstances and clinical judgement, rather than by a fixed model.
People come to therapy for many reasons, including:
- Stress, anxiety, depression, or persistent low mood
- Grief, loss, or unresolved experiences from the past
- Relationship difficulties or recurring interpersonal patterns
- Feeling stuck or caught in familiar ways of coping
- Navigating periods of change, uncertainty, or transition
- Exploring questions of identity, values, or direction
You do not need to arrive with a clear explanation of what is wrong. Many people come feeling uncertain or unsure where to begin. Therapy offers a contained space in which to start making sense of what is happening and what matters to you.
Counselling & Psychotherapy for Staff (Charities and Organisations)
Alongside individual practice, I provide workplace counselling and psychotherapy for staff, funded by charities and values-led organisations. This work is particularly suited to organisations where roles involve sustained emotional demand, responsibility, or exposure to risk, including charity, third-sector, and community settings. Therapy is offered as regular, confidential counselling or psychotherapy for individual staff members and is held independently of management or HR processes.
The purpose of this work is to provide staff with a properly contained therapeutic space, while allowing organisations to meet duty-of-care responsibilities without internalising the clinical role.
Provision may be time-limited or ongoing, depending on need, and is always guided by ethical and clinical considerations. Organisations are welcome to make contact to discuss whether this form of support would be appropriate.
Training Therapy for Trainee Counsellors & Psychotherapists (Accredited Trainings)
I also have extensive experience providing training therapy for trainee psychotherapists undertaking accredited counselling and psychotherapy trainings.
I have supported many trainees throughout their professional development, from the early stages of training through to qualification. This work is offered with a clear understanding of the emotional, relational, and ethical demands of psychotherapy training. Training therapy is provided in line with the requirements of relevant training institutions and professional bodies.
Appointments and Enquiries
To enquire about individual counselling and psychotherapy, training therapy, or organisation-funded provision, please contact Michael on
07712 278288 or email info@pneumapsychotherapy.co.uk
Beyond the stories – how Psychotherapy helps
From our earliest interactions with our environment, we start to develop an idea of who we are as a person. Often, how we respond to the people around us as children - and life's inevitable events- leaves a lasting impression on how we think and feel about ourselves as adults.
These thoughts, feelings and emotions form the basis of the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and colour the way we experience the world around us. We explore how the external world affects you and the significance of any social, cultural and political experience.
Psychotherapy can help you change your sense of self and relationships with others and the world. I often see motivated and courageous clients; they realise they are not just the stories they have come to believe about themselves - and, in time, reconnect with a more profound sense of who they are and have meaning in their lives.
"We're fascinated by the words--but where we meet is in the silence behind them." — Ram Dass
As an integrative and relational psychotherapist, I understand the therapeutic relationship to be central to the work. My approach is grounded in transactional analysis, which I integrate with psychoanalytic and attachment-based thinking, gestalt, trauma-informed practice, person-centred therapy, and transpersonal perspectives. If you’d like to know more about how these approaches inform my work, I’ve included further information below.
Psychoanalytic therapy is a form of psychotherapy rooted in the idea that all people are motivated by unconscious desires, thoughts, emotions and memories. It works on the theory of psychoanalysis developed by Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalytic therapies help people improve their lives by better understanding how they think and feel. So that you can help create better relationships, more manageable emotions, and the ability to make better life choices. Psychoanalytic therapy looks at how our experiences shape who we are and how things from the past can make us react poorly to the present.
Psychoanalytic therapy aims to identify patterns of thinking and behaviour that cause emotional distress. Through in-depth conversations and other therapeutic techniques, you are helped to analyse, confront and heal from the past to achieve greater well-being in the future. It's effective in helping you gain insight into how your unconscious mind influences your behaviour and any repetitive, self-destructive patterns that hold you back in daily life.
Object relations theory works on our internal relationships with others. According to this theory, our lifelong relationship skills are strongly rooted in our early attachments with our parents, especially our mothers. Objects refer to people or physical items that symbolically represent a person or part of a person. Object relations, then, are our internalised relationships with those people.
It is a variation of psychoanalytic theory that believes that humans are primarily motivated by the need for contact with others – the need to form relationships. This therapy aims to help you uncover early mental images that may contribute to any present difficulties in your relationship with others. It focuses on helping you identify and address challenges in your interpersonal functioning and explore ways to improve relationships so that you can understand the impact on current emotions, motivations and relationships.
Attachment theory focuses on relationships and bonds (particularly long-term) between people, including between a parent and child and between romantic partners. It is a psychological explanation for the emotional bonds and relationships between people. This theory suggests that people are born with a need to forge bonds with caregivers as children. These early bonds may continue to influence attachments throughout life. Research indicates that failure to form secure attachments early in life can harm behaviour in later childhood and throughout life.
Children who are securely attached as infants tend to develop stronger self-esteem and better self-reliance as they grow older. These children also tend to be more independent, perform better in school, have successful social relationships, and experience less depression and anxiety. Adults who were securely attached in childhood tend to have good self-esteem, strong romantic relationships, and the ability to self-disclose to others.
Transactional analysis (TA) is a widely recognised form of modern psychology that promotes personal growth and change. It is considered a fundamental therapy for well-being and helping individuals reach their full potential in all aspects of life. TA therapy is based on the theory that each person has three ego-states: parent, adult and child. These are used along with other critical transactional analysis concepts, tools and models to analyse how individuals communicate and to identify what interaction is needed for a better outcome.
During sessions, you explore how experience has shaped your personality - particularly those stemming from childhood. You work directly on problem-solving behaviours while developing day-to-day tools for finding constructive, creative solutions. The ultimate goal is to ensure you regain absolute autonomy over your life. Eric Berne founded TA in the 1950s, and he defines this autonomy as the recovery of three vital human capacities - spontaneity, awareness and intimacy.
Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy centred on increasing awareness, freedom, and self-direction with a clear understanding of your thoughts, emotions and behaviour. It's a form of therapy that focuses on the present moment rather than past experiences. Gestalt therapy is based on the idea that people are influenced by their present environment. Each individual works to achieve personal growth and balance. Gestalt therapy focuses on the use of empathy and unconditional acceptance. This helps you eliminate distress by learning to trust and accept what you feel.
"Gestalt" is a German term meaning "whole" or "form." It is an idea that views every individual as a blend of the mind, emotions, body, and soul with unique experiences and realities. Gestalt therapy puts the focus on the here and now. You can develop new perspectives and bring positive changes into your life.
Trauma therapy can help you deal with the emotional response caused by a traumatic event, and the experience can profoundly affect your daily functioning. Trauma therapy can help you address the traumatic event and process your feelings and emotions. It can allow you to face your fears in a safe space and learn coping skills to help you function daily.
Trauma can instil fear and cause you to avoid people, places, or things that remind you of the traumatic experience, making it difficult for you to function. Trauma therapy can help you confront the trauma memory and overcome your fears. It can help equip you with the confidence and coping skills you need to function properly; it also helps challenge problematic thought patterns you may have developed about yourself and the world around you to help you understand why the traumatic event occurred. Trauma therapy can help validate your experiences and offer the understanding and acceptance you need to start healing.
Person-centred therapy, or client-centred counselling, is a humanistic approach that deals with how individuals perceive themselves consciously rather than how a counsellor can interpret their unconscious thoughts or ideas.
Created in the 1950s by psychologist Carl Rogers, the person-centred approach ultimately sees human beings as having an innate tendency to develop towards their full potential. But this ability can become blocked or distorted by specific life experiences, particularly those experiences that affect our sense of value. You'll be encouraged to bring your own issues to the session – the counselling is led by you and not directed by the counsellor.
To help you achieve self-actualisation, the person-centred therapist will offer:
- unconditional positive regard (UPR) – accepting and valuing you.
- congruence - being honest and transparent in how they experience you and your world.
You explore your issues, feelings, beliefs, behaviour, and worldview to become more self-aware and achieve greater independence. This person-centred approach helps you reconnect with your inner values and sense of self-worth, enabling you to find your way to move forward and progress.
The core purpose of person-centred therapy is to facilitate our ability to self-actualise - the belief that all of us will grow and fulfil our potential.
Transpersonal therapy takes a holistic approach to therapy with an emphasis on spirituality. This therapy addresses the client's mental, physical, social, emotional, creative, and intellectual needs to facilitate healing and growth. Transpersonal therapy integrates spiritual perspectives into modern psychology.
The holistic treatment is based on the idea that humans are more than just their mind and body but are also composed of intangible, transcendent factors that make up the whole person. During sessions, techniques such as meditation, guided visualisation, dream work, art, music, journaling, and mindfulness practices can help you explore your spiritual self and create meaning.
One of the goals is to increase your sense of empowerment. To facilitate healing and growth, transpersonal therapy places great emphasis on honesty, open-mindedness, and self-awareness on the part of the therapist and you.
To book an appointment, call Michael on 07712 278288 or email info@pneumapsychotherapy.co.uk.
Get in touch
To get in touch, please call me on 07712 278288 or email info@pneumapsychotherapy.co.uk.
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